Persuasive Essay Pre-Writing Worksheet - Leadership



Persuasive Essay Pre-Writing Worksheet

Topic: _______________________________

Specific Audience: _____________________________________

(Think about things like age, gender, informed, uninformed, etc. Obviously, I am ultimately the one who is your true audience, but that does not mean you have to write the paper with me in mind. However, if you pick a complicated topic that I am sure to know nothing about, you will have to provide any and all appropriate background information. Thanks!)

Opinion on the topic: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Reasons and examples that will persuade my audience:

Reason #1 ______________________________________________________________________________

Specific example/detail____________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Reason #2 ______________________________________________________________________________

Specific example/detail____________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Reason #3 ______________________________________________________________________________

Specific example/detail____________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Lead technique I plan to use in introduction (choose one):

____Anecdote, a short story that makes a point

____Startling statistic or fact

____Quote, related to your topic by someone of significance

____Description, to describe a place or time for the reader

Opposition

An opposing point of view is: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

My rebuttal to this opposition is: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Suggested Format for Essay:

Introduction: Use an attention-getting lead and state your position on the issue.

Second paragraph: Acknowledge your opposition: Use your second paragraph to acknowledge the logical argument and quickly disprove or negate it with one of your reasons.

Brief Example: “While many students feel school uniforms would take away their creative expression, weekends and special events will provide plenty of opportunity to display your fashion sense. Students are quite active on weekends and wearing your own clothes instead of a uniform could make even the simplest outing more exciting. Rather than seeing the same clothes every day, kids would have fun dressing up and expressing themselves at social gatherings such as the movies, parties or sporting events.”

Third/fourth paragraph(s): These paragraphs should include two or three reasons to support your position. Write several sentences that include facts or evidence to support your position (using citations, of course). Be sure to include specific examples and descriptions. Save your strongest argument for last.

Conclusion: It should summarize the benefits or advantages of your position. You should restate your personal opinion, and call your reader to action. –DO NOT USE I!

**Please note that the ideas can be switched between the body paragraphs. Meaning you can either state the opposing viewpoint right away, or you could wait until your later body paragraphs if you wish.**

This sheet and your sources are due for approval on Wednesday, May 3rd. Sources (two minimum) must be reliable—publication within the last three years would be best. You may use books, magazine articles, databases, and approved internet sources (see guidelines for approval below). The Opposing Viewpoints database through Gale will be helpful for some of you (go to the CHS library website for the link—you will need a password to access this at home). All sources must be printed and include publication information for final approval. You may not use or .

Sources:

Books, magazines, and database are always going to be the best for validity. However, if you chose to use sources from the internet, you must submit the following information in order for the source to be approved:

• Printed Source

• Who sponsors or runs the website

• Why the site can be trusted

• Age of the source

• What you want to use from the source

If you cannot find this information, find a new source!

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